Page 108 of The Blood Crown

Valea finally put Aurelia out of her misery, venom dripping from her words, “I’m a bastard—but I’m still the daughter of a king.”

“Of course,” Aurelia answered, realizing she should cut her losses and just leave.

She turned away, seeking the warm glow of the library when Valea spoke again.

“Things like this—” The female gestured a moon white hand toward the library, “would have been considered frivolous in my father’s kingdom,”she said softly.

Aurelia studied the female for a moment.

A warrior. A killer. The daughter of a ruthless king.

But there was something that Aurelia recognized in her. Something that whispered of a kindred spirit dwelling beneath that cold, icy exterior.

She’d been put in a cage as well, and she knew what it was to fight her way out—not quite knowing what was on the other side of freedom.

“They are essential.” Aurelia looked through the library’s towering doors. To the rows of desks and bookshelves, the warm, glowing fires. The floating candles. The predictability of the place. “Knowledge is a weapon like any other,” she added, echoing Ven’s words to her when she’d first come here.

Valea opened her mouth, shut it. Her hesitancy almost making her seem . . . human for a moment.

“You aren’t—” Valea waved a slender hand to encompass the fortress around them, “like them.” She let out a breath through clenched teeth, as if she were trying—actually trying to make herself approachable for a moment. “And yet you’ve carved out a place for yourself here.” Her carnelian eyes flicked up to Aurelia’s.

She held the female’s stare, knowing her next words might be the difference between Ven’s half-sister forever hiding in the bowels of the fortress—or making a home for herself here.

“I’ve found they care much less about where you came from—and much more about who you choose to be.”

The female seemed to consider her words for a moment, booted feet still rooted to the shadows just beyond the library doors. But she didn’t say anything more as Aurelia turned to step into the warmth of the books.

The night was quiet, calm—but there was a thread of tension that strung every conversation, every action now. The floating candles had doused themselves, only a few flickering above where she and Ven still sat on the second floor.

Her eyes scanned the stacks around them, surprised when they landed on Karro’s broad back, pulling books from the shelves.

She couldn’t think of the last time she’d seen him here—he and Asher were similar in that way, preferring the physicality of training over nearly anything else.

From where she sat, she could barely make out the title of the book he clasped between his large hands, but it seemed to be a collection of spells. Odd, but they’d all taken to reading anything that might give them an advantage in these final hours.

She glanced back to Ven, a book propped open in his palm as he raised a mug to his lips, taking a swallow of his black coffee.

An act so completely and utterly ordinary and yet she couldn’t have said how happy it made her. To be sitting across from him again. Drinking coffee. Reading books in front of the crackling fire.

But how much longer would it last? The normalcy. The peace.

She swept away the spark of fear before it had a chance to ignite.

It didn’t matter. For as long as they had together, like this, she would savor every second.

She snapped her book shut, setting it down on the table between them and standing up. Ven’s black brows raised at the sudden intensity in her eyes, but as she slid into his lap, the concern melted away into desire, his low rumble of approval licking fire through her.

His crimson eyes darkened as he scanned the shelves, taking note of the dozens of Allokin librarians and Wraiths scattered nearby. “Shall I tell them to leave?”

Her mouth went dry at the insinuation, and she nearly shook her head—but this was a moment too perfect.

So instead, she gave a small dip of her chin, placing a hand against Ven’s hard chest, the beat of his heart matching her own racing rhythm.

“Out.”

The command was spoken with such quiet authority that the large library emptied in a matter of moments.

A smile tugged at her lips, the thrill of it only making her blood thrum in answer as they were left entirely alone.

---